Compound bearing for connecting a helicopter blade to a helicopter rotor

ABSTRACT

A compound bearing for connecting a helicopter blade to a helicopter rotor, such as connecting the blade end-shaft to the rotor connected lead-lag damper so as to accommodate a large degree of blade pitch change motion and part misalignment due to other blade motions, which bearing is maintained within a minimum space envelope. The compound bearing includes a slip-type journal bearing enveloping the blade end-shaft and a spherical, laminated elastomeric bearing enveloping the journal bearing and connected to the rotor connected part, such as the lead-lag damper.

United States Patent 1 Rybicki Sept. 18, 1973 1 COMPOUND BEARING FOR CONNECTING A HELICOPTER BLADE TO A HELICOPTER ROTOR [75] Inventor: Robert C. Rybicki, Trumbull, Conn.

[73] Assignee: United Aircraft Corporation, East Hartford, Conn.

22 Filed: July 5,1912

21 Appl. No.: 268,965

[52] U.S. C1 ..L 416/134, 416/140, 416/141 [51] Int. C1. B64c 27/38 [58] Field of Search 416/134, 141, 107,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1963 Gorndt et a1... 416/141 UX 11/1966 Kisovec 416/134 UX Schmidt 416/134 U X Mosinskis 416/134 UX Primary ExaminerEverette A. Powell, Jr. Attorney-Vernon F. Hauschild [57] ABSTRACT A compound bearing for connecting a helicopter blade to a helicopter rotor, such as connecting the blade endshaft to the rotor connected lead-lag damper so as to accommodate a large degree of blade pitch change motion and part misalignment due to other blade motions, which bearing is maintained within a minimum space envelope. The compound bearing includes a slip-type journal bearing enveloping the blade end-shaft and a spherical, laminated elastomeric bearing enveloping the journal bearing and connected to the rotor connected part, such as the lead-lag damper.

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Q SJMQ QEQN COMPOUND BEARING FOR CONNECTING A HELICOPTER BLADE TO A HELICOPTER ROTOR CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATION Some of the subject matter shown and claimed in this application is shown and claimed in an application Ser. No. 268,963 entitled Elastomeric Bearing for a Helicopter Rotor filed on even date, in an application Ser. No. 268,962 entitled Articulated Helicopter Rotor Utilizing Plural Elastomeric Bearings for Articulated Support of the Blade from the Rotor Hub filed on even date, and in an application Ser. No. 268,964 entitled Articulated Helicopter Rotor filed on even date.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to bearings which connect'helicopter blades or blade connected parts to helicopter rotors or rotor connected parts and more particularly to a bearing which connects a helicopter blade to a lead-lag damper and which is compound in nature, which is partially elastomeric, which fits into a minimum space envelope and which accommodates relative motion between the connected parts in at least three degrees of freedom, with one of those degrees of freedom being over a substantial motion range.

2. Description of the Prior Art In the prior art, sliding element spherical bearings have been used to connect the blade end-shafts to the blade lead-lag damper but such bearings do not have the high degree of reliability of an elastomeric bearing in that they either require frequent lubrication or they wear out fairly rapidly, since the ball portion of the bearing moves from under the journal portion of the bearing during rotor operation, and any type of solid lubricant is lost in this fashion and foreign matter is drawn into the interface between the ball and journal. While the use of a spherical elastomeric bearing would provide the desired bearing reliability, such an elastomeric bearing would have to be of excessively largefsize to accommodate the amount of pitch change motion and the amount of misalignment between the blade end-shaft and the damper piston-rod caused by motion of the blade about the lead-lag axes and other motions. One of the limitations of an elastomeric bearing is that it can accommodate but a given degree of motion for a given bearing size without exceeding the limit for elastomer shear strain, and thereby threatening the integrity of the bearing.

It will accordingly be seen that'the conventional rodend bearing does not have sufficient reliability for the rotor head environment of interest, and that a single elastomeric bearing would have to be of unacceptably large size to be able to accommodate the motion requirements of the blade.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, the blade end-shaft terminates in a reduced diameter stub-shaft and a low friction slip-type journal bearing, comprising two cylindrical sleeves, is sleeved thereover for relative motion therebetween, and a spherical elastomeric bearing is positioned therearound and connected to the damper piston shaft. The relative torsional freedom between the journal bearing and the elastomeric bearing is such that the journal bearing accommodates all blade pitch change motion and the elastomeric bearing accommodates all misalignment.

In accordance with the present invention, the cylindrical sleeves of the slip-type journal bearing are held in axial alignment, one being connected to the shaft and one being connected to the inner race of the spherical bearing, so that contaminants will not be admitted therebetween and so that lubricant or low-friction surfaces therebetween will remain unimpaired.

In accordance with the present invention, the compound bearing is of minimal size and the elastomer laminates operate in acceptable shear strain condition.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention may be seen by referring to the following description and claims, read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top view of a portion of an articulated helicopter rotor head using my invention and partially broken away for purposes of illustration.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged showing of the compound bearing connecting the blade lead-lag damper to the blade stub-shaft.

FIGS. 30 and 3b are showings of a helicopter blade connected to the hub through my bearing joint with FIG. 3a showing the blade and its at rest or normal flight condition, and FIG. 3b constituting a diagrammatic representation of the forces acting upon the blade at the moment of rotor start-up.

FIGS. 4a and 4b are showings of the blade in an early stage of rotor start-up, with FIG. 40 showing the position of the blade in this early stage of rotor start-up and FIG. 4b illustrating the forces acting upon the blade during this early stage of rotor start-up.

FIGS. 5a and 5b correspond to FIGS. 40 and 4b but show the blade in a more advanced rotor start-up position and illustrate the forces acting thereon in this more advanced position of rotor start-up.

FIGS. 6a and 6b show the blade in its fully supported position during rotor start-up, with FIG. 6a showing the blade so positioned, and FIG. 6b diagrammatically showing the forces acting on the blade so positioned.

FIG. 7 is a showing of a droop stop which may be used with my joint.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, we see a portion of helicopter articulated rotor head 10 which comprises hub member 12 mounted for rotation in conventional fashion about axis of rotation 14. A plurality of helicopter blades 16 are supported substantially radially from hub 12 for rotation therewith about axis 14 so as to generate lift for the helicopter in conventional fashion. It should be borne in mind that while a single blade is shown in the drawing, there are actually a number of such blades, possibly four. Hub 12 includes a chamber defining housing 18 for each blade which de fines blade attachment chamber 20 therewithin. Housing 18 is preferably substantially cylindrical and ex tends substantially radially with respect to axis of rotation 14. Housing 18 may include as an integral part thereof, mouth-shaped member 22 which defines a substantially circular opening 24 from chamber 22 and which also defines the spherical surface 26 of the outer race of the laminated spherical, annular, elastomeric bearing 28. Preferably, as shown in the drawing, the outer race member 22 is separate from and connected to housing 18 by conventional connecting means 30.

Blade 16 is connected to hub 12 by blade connecting means 32, which comprises shaft member 34 which is preferably positioned concentrically about the blade feathering or pitch change axis 36 and which has flanged or mushroomshaped inner end 38. End 38 preferably includes a stub-shaft 40 which may be integral with shaft 34 or separate therefrom and connected thereto by conventional connecting means, not shown. Shaft 34 is connected to housing 18 through annular, flat or disc-type elastomeric bearing 42, connecting member 44, and annular spherical elastomeric bearing 28. Bearings 42 and 28 are preferably of the laminated type more fully disclosed in Hinks US. Pat. No. 2,900,182 with flat bearing 42 being of the type shown generally in FIG. 7 thereof and spherical bearing 28 being of the type shown generally in FIG. 8 thereof. Spherical bearing 28 comprises a plurality of spherically shaped laminates which are alternately elastomeric and rigid material such as metal, and which are bonded together. The inner elastomeric laminate is bonded to spherical surface 46 of connector member 44. The spherical laminates and surfaces 46 and 26 are centered about the intersection of blade lead-lag axis 52 and blade flapping axis 50, which is perpendicular to axis 52, and which intersection also includes blade feathering axis 36. Bearing 42 consists of a stacked plurality of annular flat discs comprising alternately positioned elastomeric and metal disc members bonded together and with one end elastomeric disc bonded to race or end plate 54 and at the opposite end to race 56, which may be an integral part of connecting member 44 or connected thereto by conventional connecting means such as bolt and nut mechanism 58. The elastomeric discs of bearings 28 and 42 may be made of natural rubber, while the rigid discs are made of steel or titanium. At its opposite end, shaft 34 supports sleeve 60 which, in turn, supports blade 16 for rotation therewith about feathering axis 36. Pitch horn 62 is connected to sleeve 60 by conventional connecting means 64 and is connected at its opposite end to rod-end bearing 66 of the pitch control rod, which is connected at its opposite end in conventional fashion to conventional swashplate 68 so that swashplate motion causes the blades 16 to vary in pitch about axis 36 either collectively or cyclically.

It will therefore be seen that blade 16 is connected to hub 12 through sleeve 60, shaft 34, disc-type bearing 42, connector member 44 and spherical bearing 28, which connects to hub housing 18. It will also be noted that the elements just enumerated, including bearings 42 and 28 are positioned in series relationship to one another.

A shear bearing 71, which is of the plain bearing type, is shown positioned between shaft 34 and member 44, however, it should be noted that this construction uses no centering bearing for bearings 42 and 28.

A lead-lag damper 70, which is of the hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder-piston type, connects to journal portion 72 of stub-shaft portion of shaft 34 through bearing member 74 and serves to dampen the lead-lag motion of blade 16 about lead-lag axis 52. Such a damper is provided for each blade.

With the rotor construction shown in FIG. 1, blade 16 is mounted so as to articulate with respect to hub 12 and has freedom of motion with respect to hub 12 about feathering axis 36 for pitch change motion, about lead-lag axis 52 for lead-lag motion, and about flapping axis for flapping motion. The blade flapping motion, which has a range of about 30 degrees, and the blade lead-lag motion, which has a range of about 20 degrees, is accommodated by spherical bearing 28. The pitch change motion, which has a range of about degrees, cannot be accommodated by any single, practically sized elastomeric bearing, and because spherical bearing 28 and flat bearing 42 are connected in series, these two bearings share the pitch change motion of the blade. During non-nal rotor operation, spherical bearing 28 absorbs both the motor in-plane shear loads and the rotor out-of-plane shear loads, while both bearings 42 and 28 react the blade centrifugal loading.

As stated previously, it is an object of my invention to provide a bearing in an articulated rotor which provides three degrees of freedom of the blade with respect to the rotor over substantial ranges of motion, and which can be contained within a minimal space envelope, thereby holding rotor weight and drag to a minimum. The prior art interlocking yoke design will not provide the minimal space envelope desired. It was therefore decided to pass the blade or its retainer through the bearing in an attempt to reduce the space envelope. While a single bearing construction might be utilized in a helicopter rotor having minimal blade motion as by Dorand, it could not be utilized in the helicopter rotor of interest having a lead-lag range of about 20, a flapping range of about 30, and a pitch change range of about 60. One of the limitations of an elastomeric bearing is the degree of motion which any one bearing can accommodate in any degree of freedom. To accommodate motion freedom over the extensive ranges of interest would have required a tremendously large single elastomeric bearing, and this would be intolerable from a minimum space envelope and rotor drag and weight standpoint. It was realized that a spherical bearing would be needed to provide blade freedom of motion about the lead-lag and flapping axes, however, because such a spherical bearing tapers away from thrushaft 34 as shown at angle (1) so as to increase the space envelope required for the bearing. an objective of this invention is to 5 keep the height h of the spherical bearing to a minimum, and thereby maintain the bearing space envelope at a minimum. It was decided that a spherical bearing sized only to accommodate the required leadlag and flapping motion would be of minimum height and would also be capable of accommodating a portion of the required pitch change motion. It was further decided that the remainder of the required pitch change motion could be accommodated by a flat elastomeric disc bearing placed in series which would not increase the rotor space envelope.

An advantage of my in-series elastomeric bearing arrangement is that the torsional stiffness of bearings 28 and 42 can be controlled so that each bearing accommodates the proportional amount of pitch change motion desired to achieve theminimum rotor space envelope. The torsional stiffness of bearings 28 and 42 can be controlled by varying the size and thickness of the elastomeric laminates and by varying the durometer and shear modulus of the elastomer itself. The prefered stiffness ratio in the case of interest is 3:1 with bearing 28 accommodating 25 percent of the required pitch change motion and bearing 42 accommodating the remaining 75 percent of the required pitch change motion. Such a bearing stiffness ratio, while not essential to my bearing arrangement, provides the advantage of a minimal size spherical bearing 28, and thereby produces an arrangement of minimal space envelope.

Whether or not shear bearing 71 is required would depend upon the amount of rotor in-plane and rotor out-of-plane shear loads which must be passed through bearing 42 and the shear load capacity of bearing 42. In a low shear load situation, shear bearing 71 would not be necessary and it should be borne in mind that bearing 71 merely serves to carry the shear loads of the rotor across bearing 42 and is not a centering bearing for the elastomeric bearings 42 and 28 insofar as it does not provide a fixed pivot forblade 16. In this bearing design, a centering bearing is not needed because bearing 28 provides the fixed pivot for blade 16 during normal operation. Larger excursions of blade 16 about the flap axis 50 and lead-lag axis 52 are restrained by the coaction of damper 70 and shaft 34 abutting fixed surface 24 of housing 18 or bearing outer race 22 so as to establish two hard points for blade support.

Lead-lag, damper 70 is pivotally connected to hub 12 by conventional spherical joint 80 and is connected at its opposite end to the journal portion 72 of thru-shaft 34 by bearing 74. Damper 70 is basically a piston member 82 within cylinder 84 and hydraulic fluid is selectively conveyed between chambers 86' and 88 through conventional chamber connecting mechanism 90 so that damper 70 serves to dampen blade lead-lag motion about lead-lag axis 52.

A unique feature of this construction is the bearing 74 used to connect damper 70 to the blade. To be con- ,7

sistent from a bearing reliability standpoint, with the remaining bearings of the system, it was decided to substitute an elastomeric bearing for the conventional spherical rod-end bearing between damper piston shaft 92 and the journal portion 72of thru-shaft 34. Because bearing 74 must be able to accommodate the pitch change motion of blade 16, together with other motions, and because this pitch change motion is as high as 60, it was not possible to use a single elastomeric bearing in this location within reasonable space limitations because, as previously mentioned, an elastomeric bearing of given size is limited with respect to the amount of torsional motion which it can accommodate. Accordingly, as best shown in FIG. 2, bearing 74 com prises two parts, an elastomeric portion 94 enveloping a slip-type journal bearing portion 96. The arrangement of these two bearing portions is such that bearing 96 accommodates all pitch change motion with respect to damper rod 92 and elastomeric bearing 94 accommodates all misalignment motion between the blade thru-shaft 34 and damper piston rod 92. This misalignment motion which the elastomeric portion 94 of bearing 74must accommodate is caused by the fact that as the blade moves in lead-lag motion, damper 70 is caused to pivot about its pivot point 80 and the. center 98 of bearing 74 is caused to follow the car described by the motion of center point 98 about the blade leadlag axis 52, in other words, the are between station 100 and 102 shown in FIG. 2. Accordingly, the angle between damper shaft 92 and blade 16 changes continuously between outboard ranges 100 and 102 as the blade moves in lead-lag motion and it is this change in angle between the damper shaft 92 and blade axis 36 which produces the misalignment in bearing 74 which the elastomeric portion 94 thereof must accommodate. All blade pitch change motion is accommodated in bearing 74 by the slip-type journal bearing portion 96 thereof, due to its low friction or low stiffness quality when compared to the torsional stiffness of elastomeric portion 94. The elastomeric portion 94 of bearing 74 consists of outer bearing race 104, which is substantially a ring connected to or projecting from damper shaft 92 and having a spherical inner surface 106 positioned concentrically about bearing center 98. Elastomeric bearing inner race 108 is supported concentrically about journal portion 72 of thru-shaft 34 by the sliptype journal bearing 96 and includes outer spherical surface 1 10, which is also centered about center 98. A plurality of spherical laminates of elastomer material and rigid material are alternately positioned between surfaces 110 and 106 and with the end elastomeric laminates bonded thereto and' bonded to each other in spherical elastomeric bearing fashion. The elastomer laminates may be made of natural rubber and the rigid laminates may be made of steel or titanium.

The slip-type journal bearing 96 is a concentric sleeve arrangement with inner sleeve 1 14 which is connected by pinning or other convenient fashion to the journal portion 72 of shaft 34 and outer sleeve 116 is connected in some convenient fashion, such as pinning, to the inner race 108 of elastomeric bearing 94. The two sleeves 114 and 116 are of substantially U-shape cross section so as to be retained in concentric alignment about axis 36 and to be relatively movable with respect to one another. Conventional retaining mechanism 118 serves to retain sleeves 114 and 116 on shaft 36. Sleeves 114 and 116 are preferably made of steel and Teflon or carbon/ceramic.

It will accordingly be seen that bearing 74 is actually a double bearing construction, including elastomeric portion 94 and slip-type journal bearing 96 and that this construction achieves a small envelope rod-end bearing which has improved performance over a conventional all elastomeric rod-end bearing. The reason for the improved performance is the reduction in the shear strain in the elastomer of bearing 74. This reduction in shear strain in the elastomer is achieved by eliminating the requirement of the elastomer to absorb pitch change motion, aswould be required in a single elastomeric bearing. In bearing 74, slip-type journal bearing 96 accommodates all pitch change motion, while elastomeric portion 94 thereof accommodates the required misalignment described supra. For these reasons, bearing 74'is superior to an all-elastomeric bearing in this environment. In addition, bearing 74 is superior to a spherical sliding bearing arrangement in this environment in that sleeves 114 and 116 are always in the same relationship to one another and therefore any solid lubricant or preferred bearing surfaces between the two parts remains intact and uncontaminated whereas, in the spherical bearing, the ball portion is intermittently exposed from the journal portion and any solid lubricant between the two is lost in this fashion and contaminates are admitted between the ball and journal.

It will therefore be seen that bearing 74 utilizes the best features of an elastomeric bearing in that the elastomeric portion thereof need not have large shear load carrying capabilities since it is not subject to pitch change motion, and the best features of a dry lubricated type of bearing since that portion of the bearing is a slip-type journal bearing and not the conventional spherical bearing.

Pitch control rod-end bearing 66 is preferably of the same construction as bearing 74 because it takes the same types of axial rotation and misalignment motions.

As is mentioned earlier, it is an important feature of my bearing construction, that a centering bearing is not used, thereby eliminating its attendant weight and mechanical complication. The previously identified French Pat. No. 934,336 to Dorand taught the concept of utilizing a spherical elastomeric bearing in this rotor head environment, however, there are certain operating conditions in a rotor,.namely, the rotor starting and the rotor braking conditions, when the spherical elastomeric bearing needs assistance from other sources in carrying shear loads for reasons to be explained hereinafter. US. Pat. Nos. 3,501,250 and 3,111,172 provided this assistance to the spherical elastomeric bearing by utilizing centering bearings together therewith. The centering bearings are heavy, tend to be complicated, and are utilized only during the short term regimes of rotor starting and rotor braking, and perform no useful function during the normal operation of the rotor. Further, space limitations may make the incorporation of a centering bearing difficult or impossible in the preferred embodiment. It is therefore an important teaching of this application to eliminate centering bearings by utlizing the blade-to-hub bearing combination taught herein. For an explanation of how my rotor is constructed so as to afford assistance to the spherical bearing 28 during the rotor starting and braking operation, reference will now be made to FIGS. 3a and 3b through FIGS. 6a and 6b. Considering FIG. 3a as initially representing the condition of the rotor during normal flight operation, spherical bearing 28 is under high centrifugal loading so that the laminates thereof are heavily compacted and have high shear load carrying capacity such that small angular deflections, due to lead-lag or flapping of the blade, are reacted by the spherical bearing 28. When the rotating rotor is braked, or when the rotor which is at rest is started, the centrifugal load is very low due to the slow rotor speed, yet the rotor torque is high due to the starting or braking rotor in-plane shear forces generated by the rotor changing speed and imparting that change to the blades. The low centrifugal force loading of the spherical bearing 28 causes the spherical bearing to lose its compaction and hence its good shear load carrying capabilities and high in-plane rotor shear forces cause the bearing to yield laterally. We must accordingly compensate for this starting and braking condition situation and a description of my alternative to the use of a centering bearing will now be made.

Considering a rotor starting or start-up situation, wherein it may be considered that the rotor of FIG. 3a is at rest, when the rotor hub 12 commences to rotate, it imparts in-plane shear load F to the blade at the blade lead-lag axis 52 and the inertia of blade 16 imparts force F, at the blade C.G. while the lead-lag damper 70 imparts a damper load F in the directions shown in FIG. 3b. Lead-lag axis accordingly becomes Y the bearing has yielded laterally and the blade centerline shifts laterally so that the blade center of flexure shifts from lead-lag axis 52 to station as shown in FIG. 4b. The piston of damper 70 is being forced toward its bottom-out position as blade 16 moves from its FIG. 3a to its FIG. 40 position. As the clockwise motion of blade 16 continues beyond the FIG. 40 position, the blade will eventually bottomout on lag stop 134, as shown in FIGS. 5a and 5b and it will be noted that lag stop 134 is positioned radially outward or to the right of lag axis 52. This bottomingout of the blade on lag stop 134 relieves, at least in part, the shear loading on the spherical bearing 28, and although the lag angle has increased between the FIG. 4 and 5 positions, the piston of damper 70 has not yet bottomed-out. As blade 16 now pivots about lag stop 134, the damper piston eventually bottoms-out so as to give the blade 16 two hard stops, namely, lag stop 134 and point 132 of the bottomed-out damper 70, thereby completely relieving spherical bearing 28 of its shear loading. In practice, when blade 16 engages lag stop 134 in the FIG. 5 condition, the in-plane rotor shear load reaction shifts from the spherical bearing to the stop 134 and as the damper 70 bottoms-out as shown in FIG. 6 the blade centerline reverts to its original position so that blade 16 is again supported about the point of intersection of axes 36, 50 and 52, with the centerline of shaft 34 passing therethrough, blade lag motion stops suddenly and damper 70 loads and blade inertia peak at a very high point.

In my preferred embodiment, a centrifugally responsive droop stop mechanism is utilized of the type shown in FIG. 7. So as to limit the amount of droop which the blade can experience in its stopped or very low speed mode of operation, droop stop ring is utilized. Ring 160 is slidably received on thru-shaft 34 and is spring biased by spring member 162 to its operable position shown in FIG. 7, which position is assumed when the blade is at stop or at very low rpm. Positive stop ring 164 cooperates with spring 162 to position the land 166 of droop stop ring 160 to be in alignment with the surface of the bearing outer race 22 which defines droop stop and flap stop. Accordingly, when the speed of blade 16 is reduced a sufficient amount, spring 162 forces droop stop ring 166 against positive stop ring 164 so as to place land 166 into alignment with surface and thereby limit the amount of droop which the blade can experience between the operating regime shown in FIG. 7 and the regime in which land 166 contacts surface. When the helicopter rotor 10 starts up, and gains sufficient rpm, centrifugal force acting on droop stop ring 160 overcomes the force of spring 162 and forces droop stop 160 out of alignment with surface 134-136, thereby permitting greater flapping and lead-lag motion of the blade in flight than is permitted in droop motion when in the low rpm or stopped mode of operation.

It will therefore be seen that in the rotor start-up operation, as rotor starting torque is applied, the inertia of the blade causes the blade to begin to rotate about its lag axis. This lag motion will continue until such point that it is arrested by some means. If blade 16 were allowed to increase the lag angle in this fashion, damper 70 would eventually bottom-out and cause a rapid deceleration in blade motion about the lag axis which would cause very high impact loads to be placed upon the blade and rotor system. This very high impact loading is beyond the capability of spherical bearing28 in shear, so we accordingly provide hard stop 134 to cooperate with the bottomed-out damper in carrying this load.

It will be evident that the loading on bearing 28 during the rotor braking operation is just the opposite of that shown in FIGS. 3 through 6 which illustrate the rotor start-up operation, so that piston 70 bottoms-out at the opposite end of its stroke from the FIG. 6 showing and so that blade 16 bottoms out at lead stop 136.

It will accordingly be seen that the aforementioned French patent to Dorand has a serious problem in the starting and braking modes of operation and that while U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,501,250 and 3,111,172 utilize centering hearings in combination with the spherical bearing to solve this problem, I have eliminated the need for the spherical bearing, thereby providing a lighter and less expensive construction.

' I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. An articulated helicopter rotor including a hub mounted for rotation and adapted to support blades extending substantially radially therefrom for motion about lead-lag and pitch change motion axes including:

A. a shaft member adapted to be connected to the helicopter blade,

B. means to support said shaft from said hub for motion about said lead-lag and pitch change axes,

C. a damper member pivotally connected to said hub and to said shaft member at a station opposite the blade end thereof and spaced from said shaft support means,

D. means connecting said damper to said shaft so as to accommodate shaft pitch change motion and misalignment caused by motion of the shaft about the blade lead-lag axis comprising:

1. A slip-type journal bearing including:

a. a first sleeve member enveloping and connected to said shaft,

b. a second sleeve member enveloping said first sleeve member in slip-bearing journal fashion,

c. means to position said first and second sleeve members in axial alignment on said shaft,

2. a spherical, laminated elastomeric bearing. positioned between said slip-type journal bearing and said damper and including:

a. an inner race connected to said second sleeve and having a spherical outer surface centered about a point on the shaft centerline,

b. a spherical outer race enveloping the spherical inner race in spaced relationship thereto and connected to the damper member and having a spherical inner surface centered about said point on. the shaft centerline, c. a plurality of spherical laminates positioned between said inner and outer races and including alternate layers of elastomeric material and rigid material bonded to one another and with the outer most elastomer laminate bonded to the outer race spherical surface and with the inner most elastomer laminate bonded to the inner race spherical surface.

2. A rotor according to claim 1 wherein the torsional stiffness of said elastomeric bearing is substantially greater than said slip-type journal bearing so that all pitch change motion of said shaft is accommodated by said slip-type journal bearing and wherein all shaft misalignment brought about by the motion of said shaft about said lead-lag axis is accommodated by said elastomeric bearing.

3. A rotor according to claim 1 wherein said damper is a hydraulic piston-cylinder damper and wherein said elasto-meric bearing outer race is connected to the piston rod thereof.

4. A rotor according to claim 3 wherein said shaft support means includes a spherical bearing so as to permit universal movement between said shaft and the hub about a selected point constituting the intersection of said lead-lag and pitch change axes.

5. A rotor according to claim 1 wherein the blade is also supported from the hub for motion about a flapping axis, and wherein said lead-lag, flapping and pitch change axes are coincident.

6. A rotor according to claim 1 wherein said first and second sleeve members of said slip-type journal bearing are cylindrical in shape.

7. A helicopter rotor having:

A. a blade end-shaft adapted to be connected to a helicopter rotor hub,

B. means to support said shaft from said hub for motion about the intersection of the blade lead-lag and pitch change axes,

C. means to support the end of the shaft oppo-site the blade end including:

1 damper means pivotally connected to the hub and adapted to be connected to said shaft end, 2. bearing means connecting said damper means to said shaft end including:

a. a slip-type journal bearing enveloping said shaft end,

b. a spherical elastomeric bearing enveloping said slip-type journal bearing in series relationship therewith and with the outer race thereof connected to said damper means so that said slip-type journal bearing and said spherical elasto-meric bearing cooperate to accommodate blade pitch change motion and misalignment caused between the damper means and the shaft by shaft motion about the intersection of the blade lead-lag and flapping axes and pivotal damper motion caused thereby.

8. A rotor according to claim 7 wherein the torsional stiffness of said spherical elastomeric bearing is great with respect to the torsional stiffness of said slip-type journal bearing so that said journal bearing accommo- 5 dates all pitch change motion and wherein said elastomeric bearing accommodates all misalignment.

9. A .rotor according to claim 8 wherein said shaft support means permits blade pitch change motion through an angle of about 60, permits lead-lag motion through an angle of about and permits flapping motion through an angle of about 10. A rotor according to claim 9 wherein said sliptype journal bearing includes:

A. a first sleeve member journaled on to and connected to said shaft,

B. a second sleeve member journaled on to said first sleeve member for rotation with respect thereto with minimal friction,

C. means to retain said sleeve members on said shaft in axial alignment wherein said spherical elastomeric bearing includes:

A. a spherical, laminated elastomeric bearing positioned between said slip-type journal bearing and said damper and including:

l. an inner race connected to said second sleeve and having a spherical outer surface centered about a point on the shaft centerline,

2. a spherical outer race enveloping the spherical inner race in spaced rela-tionship thereto and connected to the damper member and having a spherical inner surface centered about said point on the shaft centerline,

3. a plurality of spherical laminates positioned between said inner and outer races and including alternate layers of elastomer material and rigid material bonded to one another and with the outer most elastomer laminate bonded to the outer race spherical surface and with the inner most elastomer laminate bonded to the inner race spherical surface.

11. An articulated helicopter rotor including a hub mounted for rotation and adapted to support blades extending substantially radially therefrom for motion about lead-lag and pitch change motion axes including:

A. a blade connected shaft member mounted for rotary motion in response to blade pitch change motion, and for pivotal motion about a blade articulating axis,

B. a second member pivotally connected to the hub and to said shaft member,

C. means connecting said second member to said shaft member so as to accommodate shaft pitch change induced motion and misalignment caused by relative motion of the shaft member and said second member comprising:

1. a slip-type journal bearing including:

a. a first sleeve member enveloping and connected to said shaft member,

b. a second sleeve member enveloping said first sleeve member in slip-bearing journal fashion,

0. means to position said first and second sleeve members in axial alignment on said shaft memher,

2. a spherical, laminated elastomeric bearing position between said slip-type journal bearing and said second member and including:

a. an inner race connected to said second sleeve and having a spherical outer surface centered about a point on the shaft centerline,

b. a spherical outer race enveloping the spherical inner race in spaced relationship thereto and connected to the second member and having a spherical inner surface centered about said point on the shaft centerline,

c. a plurality of spherical laminates positioned between said inner and outer races and including alternate layers of elastomer material and rigid material bonded to one another and with the outer most elastomer laminate bonded to the outer race spherical surface and with the inner most elastomer laminate bonded to the inner race spherical surface.

12. A rotor according to claim 11 wherein the torsional stiffness of said elastomeric bearing is substantially greater than said slip-type journal bearing so that all pitch change motion of said shaft is accommodated by said slip-type journal bearing and so that all shaft misalignment brought about by the motion of said shaft about said lead-lag axis is accommodated by said elastomeric bearing.

13. A helicopter rotor having a blade adapted to be connected to a helicopter rotor hub including:

A. a blade connected shaft member mounted for rotary motion in response to blade pitch change motion, and for pivotal motion about a blade articulating axis,

B. a second member means pivotally connected to the hub and adapted to be connected to said shaft member,

C. bearing means connecting said second member to said shaft member including:

1. a slip-type journal bearing enveloping said shaft member,

2. a spherical elastomeric bearing enveloping said slip-type journal bearing in series relationship therewith and with the outer race thereof connected to said second member so that said sliptype journal bearing and said spherical elastomeric bearing cooperate to accommodate blade pitch change induced motion and misalign-ment caused by relative pivotal motion between second member and the shaft member.

14. A rotor according to claim 13 wherein the torsional stiffness of said spherical elastomeric bearing is great with respect to the torsional stiffness of said sliptype journal bearing so that said journal bearing accommodates all pitch change induced motion and wherein said elastomeric bearing accommodates all misalignment.

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1. A slip-type journal bearing including: a. a first sleeve member enveloping and connected to said shaft, b. a second sleeve member enveloping said first sleeve member in slip-bearing journal fashion, c. means to position said first and second sleeve members in axial alignment on said shaft,
 2. a spherical, laminated elastomeric bearing positioned between said slip-type journal bearing and said damper and including: a. an inner race connected to said second sleeve and having a spherical outer surface centered about a point on the shaft centerline, b. a spherical outer race enveloping the spherical inner race in spaced relationship thereto and connected to the damper member and having a spherical inner surface centered about said point on the shaft centerline, c. a plurality of spherical laminates positioned between said inner and outer races and including alternate layers of elastomeric material and rigid material bonded to one another and with the outer most elastomer laminate bonded to the outer race spherical surface and with the inner most elastomer laminate bonded to the inner race spherical surface.
 1. An articulated helicopter rotor including a hub mounted for rotation and adapted to support blades extending substantially radially therefrom for motion about lead-lag and pitch change motion axes including: A. a shaft member adapted to be connected to the helicopter blade, B. means to support said shaft from said hub for motion about said lead-lag and pitch change axes, C. a damper member pivotally connected to said hub and to said shaft member at a station opposite the blade end thereof and spaced from said shaft support means, D. means connecting said damper to said shaft so as to accommodate shaft pitch change motion and misalignment caused by motion of the shaft about the blade lead-lag axis comprising:
 2. A rotor according to claim 1 wherein the torsional stiffness of said elastomeric bearing is substantially greater than said slip-type journal bearing so that all pitch change motion of said shaft is accommodated by said slip-type journal bearing and wherein all shaft misalignment brought about by the motion of said shaft about said lead-lag axis is accommodated by said elastomeric bearing.
 2. a spherical, laminated elastomeric bearing positioned between said slip-type journal bearing and said damper and including: a. an inner race connected to said second sleeve and having a spherical outer surface centered about a point on the shaft centerline, b. a spherical outer race enveloping the spherical inner race in spaced relationship thereto and connected to the damper member and having a spherical inner surface centered about said point on the shaft centerline, c. a plurality of spherical laminates positioned between said inner and outer races and including alternate layers of elastomeric material and rigid material bonded to one another and with the outer most elastomer laminate bonded to the outer race spherical surface and with the inner most elastomer laminate bonded to the inner race spherical surface.
 2. a spherical elastomeric bearing enveloping said slip-type journal bearing in series relationship therewith and with the outer race thereof connected to said second member so that said slip-type journal bearing and said spherical elastomeric bearing cooperate to accommodate blade pitch change induced motion and misalign-ment caused by relative pivotal motion between second member and the shaft member.
 2. a spherical, laminated elastomeric bearing position between said slip-type journal bearing and said second member and including: a. an inner race connected to said second sleeve and having a spherical outer surface centered about a point on the shaft centerline, b. a spherical outer race enveloping the spherical inner race in spaced relationship thereto and connected to the second member and having a spherical inner surface centered about said point on the shaft centerline, c. a plurality of spherical laminates positioned between said inner and outer races and including alternate layers of elastomer material and rigid material bonded to one another and with the outer most elastomer laminate bonded to the outer race spherical surface and with the inner most elastomer laminate bonded to the inner race spherical surface.
 2. a spherical outer race enveloping the spherical inner race in spaced rela-tionship thereto and connected to the damper member and having a spherical inner surface centered about said point on the shaft centerline,
 2. bearing means connecting said damper means to said shaft end including: a. a slip-type journal bearing enveloping said shaft end, b. a spherical elastomeric bearing enveloping said slip-type journal bearing in series relationship therewith and with the outer race thereof connected to said damper means so that said slip-type journal bearing and said spherical elasto-meric bearing cooperate to accom-modate blade pitch change motion and misalignment caused between the damper means and the shaft by shaft motion about the intersection of the blade lead-lag and flapping axes and pivotal damper motion caused thereby.
 3. a plurality of spherical laminates positioned between said inner and outer races and including alternate layers of elastomer material and rigid material bonded to one another and with the outer most elastomer laminate bonded to the outer race spherical surface and with the inner most elastomer laminate bonded to the inner race spherical surface.
 3. A rotor according to claim 1 wherein said damper is a hydraulic piston-cylinder damper and wherein said elasto-meric bearing outer race is connected to the piston rod thereof.
 4. A rotor according to claim 3 wherein said shaft support means includes a spherical bearing so as to permit universal movement between said shaft and the hub about a selected point constituting the intersection of said lead-lag and pitch change axes.
 5. A rotor according to claim 1 wherein the blade is also supported from the hub for motion about a flapping axis, and wherein said lead-lag, flapping and pitch change axes are coincident.
 6. A rotor according to claim 1 wherein said first and second sleeve members of said slip-type journal bearing are cylindrical in shape.
 7. A helicopter rotor having: A. a blade end-shaft adapted to be connected to a helicopter rotor hub, B. means to support said shaft from said hub for motion about the intersection of the blade lead-lag and pitch change axes, C. means to support the end of the shaft oppo-site the blade end including:
 8. A rotor according to claim 7 wherein the torsional stiffness of said spherical elastomeric bearing is great with respect to the torsional stiffness of said slip-type journal bearing so that said journal bearing accommodates all pitch change motion and wherein said elastomeric bearing accommodates all misalignment.
 9. A rotor according to claim 8 wherein said shaft support means permits blade pitch change motion through an angle of about 60*, permits lead-lag motion through an angle of about 20* and permits flapping motion through an angle of about 30*.
 10. A rotor according to claim 9 wherein said slip-type journal bearing includes: A. a first sleeve member journaled on to and connected to said shaft, B. a second sleeve member journaled on to said first sleeve member for rotation with respect thereto with minimal friction, C. means to retain said sleeve members on said shaft in axial alignment wherein said spherical elastomeric bearing includes: A. a spherical, laminated elastomeric bearing positioned between said slip-tYpe journal bearing and said damper and including:
 11. An articulated helicopter rotor including a hub mounted for rotation and adapted to support blades extending substantially radially therefrom for motion about lead-lag and pitch change motion axes including: A. a blade connected shaft member mounted for rotary motion in response to blade pitch change motion, and for pivotal motion about a blade articulating axis, B. a second member pivotally connected to the hub and to said shaft member, C. means connecting said second member to said shaft member so as to accommodate shaft pitch change induced motion and misalignment caused by relative motion of the shaft member and said second member comprising:
 12. A rotor according to claim 11 wherein the torsional stiffness of said elastomeric bearing is substantially greater than said slip-type journal bearing so that all pitch change motion of said shaft is accommodated by said slip-type journal bearing and so that all shaft misalignment brought about by the motion of said shaft about said lead-lag axis is accommodated by said elastomeric bearing.
 13. A helicopter rotor having a blade adapted to be connected to a helicopter rotor hub including: A. a blade connected shaft member mounted for rotary motion in response to blade pitch change motion, and for pivotal motion about a blade articulating axis, B. a second member means pivotally connected to the hub and adapted to be connected to said shaft member, C. bearing means connecting said second member to said shaft member including:
 14. A rotor according to claim 13 wherein the torsional stiffness of said spherical elastomeric bearing is great with respect to the torsional stiffness of said slip-type journal bearing so that said journal bearing accommodates all pitch change induced motion and wherein said elastomeric bearing accommodates all misalignment. 